Darin St. George: Hard and fast gets the job done

Why are so many people on the gym floor for two hours, resting for an eternity between sets, then? Well, maybe they just don't understand the nature of what they're doing.

Darin St. George

I often quip, "To command nature, one must understand nature." The nature of the rope is to be pulled, the nature of the river is to flow in one direction and the nature of anaerobic activity is that it is hard and short, not long and easy.

Then why are so many people on the gym floor for two hours, resting for an eternity between sets? Well, maybe they just don't understand the nature of what they're doing.

I have had 10 minutes to get a workout in and just exploded on a bunch of exercises and been absolutely dying to stop at the 10-minute mark; that's what I'm talking about, maximal effort and minimal time. Anything else is wasting time in my book and, yes, I have a book.

Let's look at some gut-busting workouts that are some of my favorites; they are extremely hard, short and will hopefully push you to new levels in your training.

Deadlift and dips for 10 rounds of fun - not! I love to deadlift and perform parallel bar dips, so I figured I would combine them while torturing myself. Deadlifts are one of the three powerlifts (bench press and squat being the other two), so they're a cornerstone of any weight program. Dips are what make gymnasts have such muscular torsos, so they've definitely got a place in my routine. Set up a bar with enough weight so that you can perform five reps in the deadlift right next to a dip station, then perform your deadlifts followed by 15 dips now do it again nine more times! I did this one myself in just over 15 minutes and will shave it down to 14:59 if I have my way.

100 squat thrusts when you have nothing better to do. A squat thrust (or burpee) is the king of "metcon" (metabolic conditioning) moves, so why not see how long it takes you to do 100? Feet together, squat down and place your hands next to your feet while immediately popping your feet back to perform a push-up. Now spring back to your feet and stand back up while finishing with a jump. Trust me, doing this workout as fast as possible will both put hair on your chest and then immediately incinerate it off.

Thrusters, kettle bell swings and pullups oh, my! I set up a bar with 115 pounds on it, grab a 53-pound kettle bell and place them both near a pull-up station, then I go for it. Seven thrusters (squat with overhead press at end) followed by 12 kettle bell swings and finally seven pullups (one round) for five rounds "for time" (as fast as possible). It may take under 10 minutes, but I guarantee you won't want to train later that day.

Hard and fast, people, hard and fast that's how we get it done. Now that I've finished this column in record time, I have time for some burpees.

Have a great week, gang!

Darin St. George is a personal fitness coach at Gold's Gym in Natick, Mass. Visit his website at www.TrainerX.com.